Thunder's sale brings Stockton nearer to control over venues

The sale of the Stockton Thunder to a Canadian oil man promises a good future for fans and the city.

The sale of the Stockton Thunder to a Canadian oil man promises a good future for fans and the city.

For one thing, new owner Brad Rowbotham comes to the sport with a love for ice hockey that is one of the wonderful obsessions of Canadians.

Second, as a businessman, he knows a good deal when he sees one, and the enthusiasm of Thunder fans is unmatched in the ECHL. No doubt, he's already noticed that the Canadian-style obsession grips more than a few fans here, too. Meaning: The team is staying in Stockton.

Third, the sale should mean it will be easier to renegotiate a contract with International Facilities Group, of which former Thunder owner Michael Reinsdorf is a principal, since the city will no longer face buying the team.

The city has spent $166,000 in consulting fees trying to figure out how to wring control of Stockton Arena - which has lost $9 million since it opened just more than four years ago - and three other public venues from the hands of Reinsdorf and IFG.

City officials, not to mention city taxpayers, have been frustrated for years that the four venues, especially the showpiece arena, have been badly managed and horribly underutilized.

Every day the arena is dark, the city loses money. And it's dark most of the time.

In a report last year, Conventions, Sports & Leisure International of Plano, Texas, told the city it could cost as much as $10 million to get out of the IFG contract, because it also would require the purchase of Reinsdorf's two teams, the Thunder and the Stockton Lightning arena football team (Lightning play, along with that of the rest of its league, has been suspended for the balance of the season).

The sale of the Thunder would seem to eliminate that problem and undoubtedly reduce the cost of buying out what can only be described as IFG's sweetheart management contract with the city.

The sale also eliminates the considerable angst of many Stocktonians over the prospect of the city owning and trying to manage a professional sports team (although the plan all along was for the city to sell the team quickly).

Rowbotham, 41, may be an oil executive, but he's never owned a sports team, and he's never played professional ice hockey. Luckily, the Thunder has a strong management team and a strong regional base of rabid fans.

All of this bodes well for Stockton, its taxpayers and its sports fans. It should mean the city can use the $166,000 it's paying in consulting fees to focus on renegotiating the IFG contract

At any rate, welcome to Stockton, Mr. Rowbotham.

Here's hoping that the 1,050-plus mile distance between your home in Red Deer, Alberta, and Stockton proves to be no distance at all.